1But now they that are younger than I have me in
derision, Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my
flock. 2Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should
it profit me? Men in whom ripe age is perished. 3They
are gaunt with want and famine; They gnaw the dry ground, in the
gloom of wasteness and desolation. 4They pluck salt-wort
by the bushes; And the roots of the broom are their food. 5They are driven forth from the midst of men; They cry after them as
after a thief; 6So that they dwell in frightful valleys,
In holes of the earth and of the rocks. 7Among the
bushes they bray; Under the nettles they are gathered together.
8They are children of fools, yea, children of base men; They
were scourged out of the land. 9And now I am become
their song, Yea, I am a byword unto them. 10They abhor
me, they stand aloof from me, And spare not to spit in my face.
11For he hath loosed his cord, and afflicted me; And they
have cast off the bridle before me. 12Upon my right hand
rise the rabble; They thrust aside my feet, And they cast up against
me their ways of destruction. 13They mar my path, They
set forward my calamity, Even men that have no helper. 14As through a wide breach they come: In the midst of the ruin they
roll themselves upon me. 15Terrors are turned upon me;
They chase mine honor as the wind; And my welfare is passed away as
a cloud. 16And now my soul is poured out within me; Days
of affliction have taken hold upon me. 17In the night
season my bones are pierced in me, And the pains that gnaw me take
no rest. 18By God's great force is my garment
disfigured; It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. 19He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.
20I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me: I stand
up, and thou gazest at me. 21Thou art turned to be cruel
to me; With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me. 22Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it; And
thou dissolvest me in the storm. 23For I know that thou
wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.
24Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall?
Or in his calamity therefore cry for help? 25Did not I
weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the
needy? 26When I looked for good, then evil came; And
when I waited for light, there came darkness. 27My heart
is troubled, and resteth not; Days of affliction are come upon me.
28I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the
assembly, and cry for help. 29I am a brother to jackals,
And a companion to ostriches. 30My skin is black, and
falleth from me, And my bones are burned with heat. 31Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, And my pipe into the voice
of them that weep.

31 Job 31

1I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I
look upon a virgin? 2For what is the portion from God
above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high? 3Is
it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of
iniquity? 4Doth not he see my ways, And number all my
steps? 5If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot
hath hasted to deceit; 6(Let me be weighed in an even
balance, That God may know mine integrity); 7If my step
hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And
if any spot hath cleaved to my hands: 8Then let me sow,
and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
9If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have
laid wait at my neighbor's door; 10Then let my wife
grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her. 11For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be
punished by the judges: 12For it is a fire that
consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase.
13If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of
my maid-servant, When they contended with me; 14What
then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall
I answer him? 15Did not he that made me in the womb make
him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? 16If I have
withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the
widow to fail, 17Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the
fatherless hath not eaten thereof; 18(Nay, from my youth
he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my
mother's womb); 19If I have seen any perish for want of
clothing, Or that the needy had no covering; 20If his
loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the
fleece of my sheep; 21If I have lifted up my hand
against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate: 22Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be
broken from the bone. 23For calamity from God is a
terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing. 24If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, Thou
art my confidence; 25If I have rejoiced because my
wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much; 26If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in
brightness, 27And my heart hath been secretly enticed,
And my mouth hath kissed my hand: 28This also were an
iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the
God that is above. 29If I have rejoiced at the
destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil
found him; 30(Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin
By asking his life with a curse); 31If the men of my
tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with
his meat? 32(The sojourner hath not lodged in the
street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller); 33If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine
iniquity in my bosom, 34Because I feared the great
multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept
silence, and went not out of the door- 35Oh that I had
one to hear me! (Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer
me); And that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath
written! 36Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I
would bind it unto me as a crown: 37I would declare unto
him the number of my steps; As a prince would I go near unto him.
38If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows
thereof weep together; 39If I have eaten the fruits
thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose
their life: 40Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And
cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

The Holy
Bible, American Standard Version - First published in the year of
our Lord (Anno Domini) AD 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, Publishers.
Also called the Standard American Edition - Revised Version.www.BibleABC.net